1. How many displaced people are there in the world today?

  • 123 million

  • 84 million

  • 28 million

Explanation: 
At the end of 2021, there were 89 million displaced people around the world. But crises in Afghanistan, Ukraine, Gaza and elsewhere have pushed that number to 123 million, which represents 1.5% of the global population. That’s 1 out of every 69 people on earth, and that number continues to grow! This includes refugees, asylum seekers, and the more than 68 million people who have been displaced inside their own countries.

2. How many displaced people are living in refugee camps?

  • 9.5 Million

  • 30.5 Million

  • 78 Million

Explanation: 
Displaced people often resist going to refugee camps where many are warehoused for generations while awaiting resettlement. The vast majority (approximately 78 percent) choose to live in cities where they have more opportunities to live independently and find employment. But they also face major challenges since they are often forced to share accommodations or live in non-functional public buildings, homeless shelters, slums, or informal settlements with substandard living conditions.

 

3. How many refugees were resettled in the U.S. during fiscal year 2024?

  • About 25,000
  • About 60,000
  • About 100,000
Explanation: 
The President determines the number of refugees accepted into the US. In 2024, President Biden set that number at 125,000 and admitted 100,000. When President Trump took office in January, one of the first things he did was to suspend the refugee resettlement system entirely. We do not expect any new refugees to be resettled in the US in the foreseeable future.

4. Refugees cost the government more than they contribute.

  • True
  • False
Explanation:
A common misconception is that refugees drain the US economy, but this is not borne out by facts. Between 2005 and 2019, refugees generated $581 billion in federal, state, and local taxes. Total government expenditures to help new arrivals get back on their feet during that same time period came to $457 billion, meaning that refugees contributed $124 billion in pure profit to the national economy. In Rhode Island, refugees contributed $80 million in state and federal taxes in 2019. Refugees bring with them exceptional skills in culinary arts, trade, and technology, to name a few. They offer fresh perspectives that foster innovation. Nearly half of today’s fortune 500 companies were founded by either refugees, immigrants, or their children. These include Apple, Google, and Amazon.

 

5. Refugees take jobs away from Americans.

  • True
  • False
Explanation: 
Refugees have revitalized declining cities all over the US by working in industries that were struggling due to labor shortages. They have infused rust-belt cities and rural towns like Utica, NY, Austin, MN, and Springfield, OH with new energy and fresh prosperity. Refugees are eager to work and begin supporting their families and are willing to accept jobs that most Americans don’t want in meatpacking plants, factories, and in agriculture. They also trend younger than the American population, contributing to social security and Medicare and helping our aging population to retire more securely.

 

6. Refugees and immigrants make crime worse.

  • True
  • False
Explanation: 
It is not true that refugees contribute to crime. A longitudinal study of 200 small and large US cities showed that where immigrant populations grew, violent and property crime generally decreased. The researchers concluded that there was either a negative relationship between immigrants and crime or no relationship at all. Another study comparing the incarceration rates of immigrants with US-born individuals found that the likelihood of an immigrant being incarcerated is 60 percent lower than that of someone born in the US.